


Carry That Weight

by Thishouseisaflyingcircus



Category: Arctic Monkeys, British Singers RPF, Indie Music RPF, The Last Shadow Puppets
Genre: Blood, Costume Party, Drinking, Drugging, Halloween, Hiding, Killing, M/M, graveyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-27 21:49:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5065582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thishouseisaflyingcircus/pseuds/Thishouseisaflyingcircus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Going to a costume party thrown by strangers in an unfamiliar town was probably a bad idea, but they were young and looking for fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

" _Fuck!_ "

Alex gasped heavily as he ripped off the rubber mask that had been slowly suffocating him.

He bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath while frantically looking around, trying to assess where he was in the heavy darkness, trying to see if there was anything he recognized that would help him find his way back.

Back where?

His head was spinning.

The invitation to the costume party had been welcomed earlier that day. Alex and his mates were bored and in an unfamiliar town, with no plans for the evening, and the party seemed like it would be fun, or at least an interesting diversion that would provide free drinks and cute birds.

After lengthy deliberation over the slim selection, they had chosen some cheap masks at a local store and then hailed a taxi, enthusiastically handing the driver the address they had been given.

The man was wary when he first looked at the scribbling on the slip of paper. He then looked at the four lads, their faces flush with excitement.

"Do you know the people throwing this party?" He questioned, eyeing them over the paper.

"Yeah, we go _way_ back, mate, have a _long_ history..." Matt had chuckled, getting an elbow in the ribs from Nick, who murmured something about Matt _wanting_ to have a history with one of the birds who had invited them.

The driver seemed somewhat convinced and dropped them off deep in the countryside, where the houses were far apart, separated by large fields of crops in different stages of harvest.

"Does someone know where you boys are tonight?" The driver was concerned.

Jamie jumped out of the front seat, handing the driver cash.

"Yeah, of course, thanks..."

The man hesitated and was about to say something, but then shook his head and drove off down the dark road as the boys looked at the large house, already thumping with music and full of people. 

"Let's make this a night to remember, lads!" Matt ordered and the four pulled their masks down as they walked the long path to the door...

 

Alex started running again until he couldn't go any farther, his heart was still racing, his feet were killing him, and he was tired and lost.

He slumped down against an old rock wall, illuminated only by the near-full moon.

They were definitely far from the city, with no house nor street lights to be seen for miles.

_They_.

Alex pulled out his mobile with trembling hands and tried to text his friends.

No service.

" _Fuck!_ " Resting his head against the wall, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stay calm, trying not to cry, trying to get the spinning to stop.

"Hey...you okay?" A voice slid out of the shadows.

" _Shit!_ " Alex was on his feet again, running down the dirt path and away from the voice as fast as he could, his heart beating roughly in his throat.

" _Hey!_ _Wait!_ I'm sorry! Please stop!" The voice followed him, catching up quickly.

Alex finally stopped, lungs burning, and turned to face his pursuer.

"What do you want?" He panted through gritted teeth as he tried to catch his breath, poised to keep distance between himself and the stranger.

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright, mate. You're on my family's property..." The other lad clutched his side, breathing rapidly.

"You weren't at that house? The one with the party?"

"No, man, don't even know what you're talking about..."

"I've got to find my friends..."

"Okay, yeah, where was the party?"

Alex had no idea.

Matt and Jamie had handled the logistics of getting to the party being they were the ones who had scored with the pretty birds. Alex only remembered how much the girls had giggled and batted their eyelashes as they wrote down the address.

Alex pulled out his mobile again, hoping he could finally text.

"Good luck with that, mate. We're out in the boondocks, dead zone for all things cellular."

" _Fuck!_ " Alex's voice was rising, his desperation evident.

" _Hey_ , take it easy. Let's just sit down a minute, you can catch your breath, and then we can figure out how to get you back to your friends..."

"Yeah, okay, thanks..." Alex slumped down, his back resting against a smooth slab of stone. He'd be so much better if he could clear his head and stop the spinning.

"I'm Miles."

"Alex."

 

"So, you live here?"

Alex needed to break the awkward silence, needed to take his mind off of what had happened.

"Nah, it's the family business, but I've been here this past week, keeping an eye on the property." 

Miles couldn't help but check Alex out, taking in his slender build, sweet face, and doe-like eyes in the dim moonlight.

"In the middle of the night?"

Alex's hands were noticeably shaking as he carded his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, it's usually _dead_ around here, but it's that time of the year, ya know, have to protect black cats, pumpkins, virgins, and all this...from the hooligans..."

Miles chuckled and swept his hand into the darkness in front of him before lighting a cigarette and offering it to Alex.

"Thanks..." Alex was grateful and took a nice, long drag, processing what Miles had just said.

"Wait... _what?_ "

Alex grabbed his mobile and turned on the flashlight, shining it around to reveal the headstone he was leaning against.

" _Oh shit!_ " Alex jumped up, dropping the cigarette, ready to run again, but was stopped when Miles reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back down gently.

"Relax, it's okay. I doubt Old Man Jenkins cares whether you're sittin' on top of his old lady..." Miles smirked and picked up the cigarette, studying its burning, orange embers.

" _Shit, shit, shit_...this just keeps getting worse..." Alex slumped back down, head in his hands.

"You really should feel privileged, Alex, most people are _dying_ to get in here..." Miles chuckled and took another drag.

Alex looked up at him.

"Your family owns a graveyard?"

"Yep..."

 

Alex and Miles sat quietly for a few minutes, passing the cigarette back and forth, before Miles asked Alex for details of his night.

Alex told him that he and his friends were staying with Jamie's aunt, helping her pack up for a move back to Sheffield. They were taking a break at a local pub when a couple of cute birds had started flirting, eventually inviting them to a costume party that night. The boys were bored and readily agreed, eager to check it out.

The party was wild, lots of people, lots of booze, and lots of drugs all saturated with loud music and flashing strobe lights.

Alex quickly lost track of his friends and contented himself with a beer while watching the colorful fish that chased each other around some neon coral in an elaborate aquarium.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the next thing Alex remembered was people screaming and shouting, pushing their way out of the room and away from a girl who was standing in a doorway, her pink bunny mask and ears still on, her costume and skin bloodied.

Alex stared.

He knew the blood wasn't hers, but he was fascinated with the way it streamed out of her mouth, dripped off of her chin, and landed on her exposed belly. She was gripping a carrot in one hand and a knife in the other, the blade shining where it wasn't covered in blood.

"WHO'S NEXT?"

She screamed at the partygoers who were frantically trying to flee the room as a man dressed like a pirate slammed another door shut, blocking it as an exit, making the crowd surge in another direction. He was also awash in blood, with a hook for one hand and a bloody sword clutched by the other.

Alex chuckled at the scene.

Surely this was the entertainment for the evening.

It was good.

Quite good.

Top marks for the effort.

So realistic.

He stood up to get a better view as the scene unfolded, walking closer, trying to see around the people pushing into him as they scrambled for the remaining doorway.

 

"He's here! _Alex!_ "

In a flash, Nick ran by, still sporting his Shrek mask and calling Alex's name, relief and panic heard in his voice through the rubber. Nick was gripping Matt by the arm and they were moving fast, toward the windows.

Alex couldn't help but chuckle at the deflated ghost mask that stared back at him from the top of Matt's head, where it had been pushed in order for Matt's face to show and was now clinging desperately to his hair, bouncing and bobbing, trying to stay attached to the curly mess.

" _C'mon!_ Need to get out of here!" Matt grabbed Alex's arm and pulled him roughly along with them.

" _Wait_...where's Jamie?" Alex yelled through the slight hole in his mask, trying to be heard over the chaos.

"Right here, Al...I got ya..." Jamie closed in behind him, maskless with disheveled hair, his hands immediately grasping Alex's sides, forcing him past people and pushing him closer to the windows.

Nick had the window open in seconds and the four tumbled out into some bushes with more people spilling out right after them, nearly trampling the boys in the process.

After gaining their footing, they assessed the situation.

 

A baseball player, drenched in blood, was brutally attacking partygoers with a bat as they fled while a fireman was hacking away on a lifeless body with an axe.

"What the fuck?" Alex squeaked into his mask, frightened by what he was seeing, realizing it wasn't entertainment.

"This way!" Matt steered them down a dirt road, where people were getting into their cars, crying and screaming, and hurriedly driving off.

"There they are...the new ones!" A princess splattered with blood and who Alex recognized as one of the girls from the pub pointed at the boys, and five other costumed people started running toward them.

" _Shit!_ Split up! Find somewhere secluded and lie low...we'll find each other...just stay safe!" Jamie yelled, and the four veered off in different directions.

Alex ran into the darkness, hoping the ground was level with every blind step and hearing muffled screams and cries through the mask. He tried to block them out, not wanting to recognize the voices. He listened to his frightened breathing instead, the sounds amplified within the mask.

He focused on putting one foot in front of the other, praying he didn't trip and fall, from something on the unseen ground and from the spinning of his head, which was trying its best to unbalance him.

And that was the last he had seen of his friends.

 

Alex choked on a small sob and Miles took a deep breath.

"Okay, Alex, let's get you back to the office and we'll get things sorted out. I hate to say this, but your story is mighty hard to believe..."

Miles stood and held out his hand to Alex, who looked up at the boy before slowly resting his hand in the other's, allowing him to help him up.

"Yeah, I know..." He held back another sob, not wanting to believe it himself.

"How much did you say you drank?"

"Not enough to imagine that..."

With flashlight in hand, Miles guided them through a maze of headstones and shrines until they finally came upon a small stone building covered in moss.

Alex glanced down the gravel path and up at the sign that hung above the arched wrought iron gate that served as the entrance to the cemetery.

" _Golden Slumbers?_ " Alex looked at Miles, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, my parents let me name the place..." Miles kicked at the small rocks with his shoe.

"Nice..." Alex chuckled and rubbed his face, and then took a moment to check out the boy at his side. They were about the same size in both height and build, and the boy had big beautiful eyes and shaggy hair that framed his gentle face.

"Thanks..." Miles pulled a set of keys from his pocket and opened the door to the little building.

 

The room was small, but still large enough to hold a decent-sized desk, some file cabinets, a couple of chairs, and a couch. There was a small bathroom off the main room, and a tiny kitchenette crammed next to it.

Miles turned on a desk lamp and then busied himself with securing the door with three heavy-duty sliding locks. Alex thought it was strange that such a little building was so heavily fortified, but the thought passed quickly through his mind as he watched Miles hurry around the room.

Alex stood, waiting awkwardly, not sure what he should be doing or where he should be standing. His eyes glanced over the desk and file cabinets for a phone, but he didn't see one.

He was growing restless.

He had to call the police, he needed to find his friends.

"I've got good news and bad news..." Miles shut the blinds and drew the heavy curtains over the lone window.

He stood and looked at Alex, who stared blankly back at him, waiting for him to continue, offering no preference as to what news he wanted delivered first.

"Ok, the bad news is we have no phone or computer, so there's no way to communicate with anyone until tomorrow morning when someone comes to pick me up. Good news is we should be fine here, we're pretty isolated and most people avoid cemeteries like the plague, especially at night."

Alex nodded, disappointed that he would be unable to get help to his friends.

He choked back another sob and attempted to control his body's shaking while trying to forget the screaming.

There had been so much screaming.

 

"Hey...why don't you sit down. Want some water?" Miles reached for the back of Alex's neck and guided him slowly to the couch where Alex sat down heavily.

Alex didn't respond.

Miles grabbed them both a bottle of water from the mini fridge, twisting the caps off and tossing them in the trash before returning. He sat down beside Alex, offering him a bottle.

Alex didn't take it, choosing to stare at his hands instead.

Miles set the waters down and sighed.

"Maybe you should try to get some sleep..." Miles reached over and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the bottom drawer of a file cabinet, motioning for Alex to lie down on the couch.

"Not tired. Can't sleep when my friends need help..." Alex stood and headed to the door.

"No! Alex! You can't leave...it's _too_ dangerous..."

Alex paused and rested his hand on the doorknob, studying the three large locks on the door before the color began draining from his face.

He slowly turned to face Miles.

"I thought you said my story was hard to believe. Why would you say it's too dangerous?"

Miles stood and slowly approached Alex.

Alex backed himself against the door like an animal cornered.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alex, let me explain..."

Miles walked slowly towards Alex.

"Stay back! Don't you fuckin' come any closer!" Alex grabbed an umbrella that was hanging by the door and wielded it in front of himself to keep Miles at bay.

"Alex, it's not what you think..."

"Well, then, what the fuck is it?" Alex glared at Miles, holding the umbrella tightly, ready to use it if needed.

Miles sighed and retreated to the couch, wanting to give Alex space to calm down.

He then told him everything he knew. There was a questionable group of people who had recently moved into the area, surrounded by plenty of rumors about missing kids, mostly runaways and out-of-towners. They threw wild parties and had been investigated many times before, but nothing had ever turned up. The few witnesses who came forward were always found to have hallucinogens in their systems, so their testimonies were inadmissible. There was never any evidence of wrongdoing, even when the parties were raided, fueling speculation that the local police were being paid off.

"I didn't take any drugs, just had beer..." Alex protested.

"Did you open the beer?"

Alex's head fell and his shoulders slumped as he shook his head, remembering the girl in bunny ears happily handing him and his friends opened bottles of beer.

" _Oh my god_...what did we do?" Alex dropped the umbrella.

"Alex, you couldn't have known..." Miles jumped up and put his arm across Alex's shoulder, steering him back to the couch.

 

"That explains...why I'm so dizzy..."

"Here...drink this...might help get it out of your system quicker..." Miles handed him a water.

Alex eyed the opened bottle before looking up at Miles, suspiciously.

"Little late for caution now, isn't it?" Miles huffed, regretting the comment once he saw the hurt and regret in the boy's eyes.

"Sorry..."

"Yeah..." Alex grabbed the bottle and quickly drank, nearly finishing it in one, long gulp. Miles handed him the other, and Alex repeated the action.

"Listen, we can either try to get some rest, or keep busy. We can't go looking for your mates, so you decide."

"Cards?"

"Sounds good."

Miles stood up and opened a drawer on the desk, producing a worn deck of playing cards.

They spent the next hour talking and playing, not really focusing on the game, but instead more determined in forgetting the events of the night and learning more about each other.

Not surprisingly for boys their age, they had a lot of things in common, but also found themselves bonding over things fairly unique to themselves - no siblings, a deep love of reading and writing, and music.

Alex would occasionally lose focus on their discussion, the screams and chaos from earlier in the evening again in his mind, but Miles picked up on those moments quickly and found ways to distract him from his thoughts and bring him back into the present.

 

As Alex was dealing the next hand, a loud noise erupted in the distance. Alex froze, the cards falling from his hands.

" _Shit!_ "

Miles jumped up and shut off the lamp, plunging them into immediate darkness. He then shuffled and fumbled his way through the dark, feeling to make sure the curtains were closed tightly and the door locks were secure before falling back on the couch, very close to Alex.

The sounds got louder and closer and there was now no mistaking that the noise was people shouting and banging metal objects together, as though trying to scare something from its hiding place.

" _Aaaalex, come out to playeeeay!_ " The voices were chanting.

Alex whimpered and Miles blindly searched for and found his hand on instinct, grabbing it and squeezing tightly.

" _Your friends misssss you, Aaaalex!_ "

Alex started to rise, but Miles held him down.

" _Aaaalex, they neeeeed your heeeelp!_ "

Alex was just about to respond when Miles' hand covered his mouth and he whispered in his ear.

"No, they want you to show yourself, don't fall for it."

Alex nodded, understanding. Miles dropped his hand and they both listened, and waited, in the sudden, deafening silence.

" _ALEX!_ " Jamie's struggling voice broke the quiet, sounding weak, hurt, and distressed.

"Ja-" Miles' hand once again clamped over Alex's mouth and he held the boy down as Alex struggled to move to the door to help his friend.

" _Aaaalex, come out to playeeeay! Jamie neeeeeds you!_ "

" _Alex_ , it's a trap, don't do it! They're dead, don't..." They heard cursing and then Jamie's sharp cry and muffled moan, followed by silence.

" _No...no...no._.." Alex stopped struggling and whimpered as he cradled his head, covering his ears and rocking his body.

Miles pulled him in for a tight hug, whispering.

"I'm so sorry, Alex. We've got to be quiet, _okay?_  We don't want them to know we're here..."

 

They heard the wrought iron gates being scaled and feet landing on the gravel path, crunching as the footsteps approached. A dark figure loomed outside the building, walking in front of the window and door, trying to peer in and jiggling the door handle.

Alex and Miles held each other and their breaths, not daring to move even the slightest.

"C'mon, quit wasting time. Doubt the kid would seek refuge in a cemetery of all places, he'd be too spooked. He probably ran off through the corn fields, where we found the other two. Help me get the body to the car and we'll go look there...maybe the others already found him..."

The voices faded as the men walked away, and soon couldn't be heard.

" _They're gone_..." Alex whispered into Miles' neck, not sure if he was talking about his friends, or their killers.

"I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry..." Miles held Alex tightly, his hands moving up and down his back, trying to warm him and keep him from going into shock, pressing kisses to his head, openly smothering the lad with comfort the only way he knew how.

 

Alex allowed himself to be held.

He felt dead inside, dead like his friends, who wanted him to stay safe, to live.

He breathed in Miles' warm scent as a surge of emotions took over and he quickly lost himself, and it felt good to be lost.

His friends were gone, but that was okay because this wasn't real, it was just a dream.

It had to be.

Miles _was_ here and he _was_ real, he wasn't a dream, and he could help, help Alex forget, help him wake up.

"Alex? _Hey_. Are you with me?" Miles cupped Alex's face in his hands, trying to look into his eyes with only the glow of a digital clock as a light source.

"Help me, Miles... _please_..." Alex moved into Miles, nuzzling his nose and lips into his neck, sobbing, before climbing his way onto Miles' lap, further into the embrace, pulling on him tightly.

Alex tilted his face to Miles and their lips met, feverishly, one needing to forget and feel alive, the other needing to comfort and protect.

"I've got you, Alex...you're okay..." Miles gasped.

 

Their kisses grew more demanding with Alex squirming atop Miles with a wild urgency. Miles finally pressed Alex down on the sofa and wedged himself into the boy, hoping to slow him down and calm him.

Alex whimpered when he felt Miles' hard cock bruising into his hip, and he greedily grabbed the back of Miles' head so he couldn't break away from the kiss.

He didn't want this to stop.

Being with Miles, touching, tasting, and smelling him, was what Alex needed at that moment.

He only wanted to think about Miles.

Nothing else.

He didn't want to think about his friends and feel the pain of losing them.

He didn't want to think about the men who were looking for him and wanted to kill him.

He wanted to forget.

And Miles would help him.

Alex's hand slid down between them to the front of Miles' pants, his palm placed firmly over the bulge there, rubbing over it, back and forth.

" _Alex_...we should slow down..." Miles pulled back and buried his face into Alex's neck, panting.

" _Please_...don't stop, Miles...don't want the pain to come back...help me... _please_..." Alex pleaded into Miles' hair.

"Have you... _ever?_ "

"No..."

 _"Alex..."_ Miles started lifting away from the boy, but Alex held him tightly, whimpering.

 _"Please_...don't stop...I _need_ this...right now...I need _you_..."

 

Miles nodded and leaned in for another kiss and Alex moaned into it, his hands tugging at Miles' shirt.

Miles sat up, discarding his top quickly before doing the same to Alex's.

Their hands roamed over the newly exposed and warm skin, trying to see what their eyes couldn't in the darkness.

Miles trailed kisses along Alex's jaw and over his neck and collarbone, gently sucking, nipping, and licking to the rhythm of the boy's moans as he writhed beneath him.

He drank the salty sweat of fear and fatigue that permeated through Alex's pores, hoping to take some of the pain from the boy and into himself.

He played with one of Alex's nipples, flicking and pinching it as he sucked and tongued the other. Alex was moaning loudly and desperately in response, so Miles slowed down, wanting them to be as quiet as possible, just in case the men returned.

Alex felt every hot touch from Miles' fingers, hands, lips, and tongue, each one taking him farther away from the present and from his pain, thrusting him into a carnal world where he only had to succumb to bodily pleasure and satisfy his basic appetite, nothing else.

Miles' mouth rested on Alex's belly, leaving several, sharp marks. Alex's fingers dug tightly into Miles' hair as he moaned, tugging his approval.

He moved lower to Alex's jeans, undoing them as Alex lifted his hips up, allowing Miles to hitch the pants over his ass and down his thighs. He had them to Alex's ankles by the time Alex had kicked off his shoes, finally freeing the jeans completely from his body. Miles finished by taking Alex's socks off, leaving him in nothing but his boxer briefs.

Miles' hands comforted Alex's body, starting with his feet and moving slowly upward, alternately kissing, nipping, and sucking the areas he had just touched.

Alex moaned, babbled, and whispered, his brain completely shut off, begging Miles to keep going, to never stop, to please help him.

And Miles did.

 

Miles took his time, covering the boy's body in kisses, bites, sucks, and touches until Alex was delirious with want, desperately grinding himself against Miles at any opportune moment, trying to get some relief in the one area Miles had purposely avoided.

" _Please..._ _Miles...more_... _now_..."

After a few awkward moves, Miles was naked and he quickly removed Alex's briefs in one smooth motion.

Alex whimpered and whined during Miles' stages of undress, his own hand falling to his own cock and rubbing it, needing constant contact to keep his mind focused solely on Miles, unfocused on everything else.

" _Yes_...c'mon...need you... _now_..."

Miles had never wanted something so badly in his life, and the boy beneath him was doing nothing to stop it, wanting it just as much. Alex let out a filthy moan when Miles met him again for another deep kiss, their naked bodies pressing into each other.

_Those fuckin' lips, so soft and needy._

Miles no longer cared if he died as long as he could keep kissing Alex's lips until the very end. His hands glanced down Alex's body, reaching around to feel the soft curves of his ass. Another dirty moan crawled from the boy as his body arched into Miles.

" _Miles...please._.." Alex covered his face with kisses, begging with those beautiful, demanding lips.

Miles growled and flipped the boy over. Alex moaned and immediately lifted his ass to Miles, offering himself.

" _Jesus_..." Miles gasped and his cock twitched at the dim sight and the feel of Alex's soft and rounded ass under his hands, inviting him in.

"So fuckin' perfect..." He bent over the boy and leaned his face into the back of Alex's neck and groaned.

" _Miles...please._.." Alex was lost in another world and happy to remain there, a place so primitive that he had been reduced to nothing more than a craving animal in heat.

Miles ground his aching cock between Alex's thighs before pulling away slightly, allowing his cock to spring up and rest along the crack of Alex's ass.

Alex shuddered and whimpered.

Earlier words screamed in the back of Miles' mind.

_'Have you...ever?'_

_'No...'_

 

Miles groaned and allowed himself to rut along Alex's sweet, tight cleft, enjoying the sounds of the boy below him, keening and rubbing back against his cock, murmuring incoherent words, coming completely undone.

" _Yes...fcuukmnwr...God...please...cksmuch...now._.." Alex moaned, needy and eager.

 _Christ, what am I doing?_ Miles stilled for a moment before pulling away from Alex and gently rolling him on his back. Alex whimpered, frustrated.

" _Miles...please_..."

"Not this time, love...it's _too_ much...tonight...with everything else...not this time..."

Alex squeezed his eyes closed, whimpered, and nodded.

Miles rested his body on top of Alex's, their cocks meeting and pulsating into each other, both boys moaning at the direct contact.

"Look at me, Alex..."

The boy opened his eyes, shiny and wet with tears, lidded with lust.

 

Miles began to grind slowly until Alex matched his movement, both getting lost in the feel and noises they were making. Miles leaned in and kissed Alex hard, his fingers playing again with the boy's nipple.

Alex warmed up to the new sensation of their cocks rubbing together and was soon arching into Miles, setting the pace, giving friction as good as he was getting. He couldn't grind hard or fast enough, it all felt too intense, and Alex felt control quickly slipping away again.

" _Miles_..." he warned, knowing he had already been close before Miles switched positions.

Miles' hand reached down between their bodies and grasped their cocks, both leaking with arousal, and smoothed the slick all over as he started stroking.

"C'mon, Alex... _let it go._..I need you to feel good..."

Alex obeyed, arched into Miles' hand, and came with a shudder and a sob. Miles followed soon after, both using the other's body to ride out the spasms of their release.

They lay there for a moment, Miles partially on top of Alex, both panting and silent.

After their breathing became controlled, Miles gently rose and disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a warm, wet towel.

They both remained quiet as Miles cleaned Alex and then himself, before setting the towel on the floor and pulling the heavy blanket over them, both slotting naturally into the other.

"Thank you... _for everything._.."

Alex whispered into the darkness and Miles hummed, nodding and pulling Alex tightly into him, both boys quickly drifting off to sleep, tangled in each other's arms and legs.

 

"Hey pretty darlin'...time to rise...and shine..."

Hot breath pressed into Alex's ear as he rolled onto his back, smiling at the familiar voice, and looked directly up and into Matt's eyes as the boy straddled him.

" _Matt?_ "

"Yeah, Al. Who were you expecting? A supermodel or something? Highly doubtful...unless you become a rockstar or something..."

Matt tousled Alex's hair and flopped on the bed next to him, staring at the ceiling.

"No...it's just...uh...you're here... _Matt!_ " Alex grinned and turned on his side to face his friend.

"Of course I'm here...was I supposed to go somewhere?"

Matt gave him a weird look before returning his focus to the ceiling.

Nick and Jamie bounced into the room, Jamie crawling onto the bed and slotting himself against Alex's back, while Nick sat on the bed at his feet.

Alex grinned at them both, happy to see his friends, alive and well.

"Is our napper ready for the evening's festivities?" Jamie poked a finger into Alex's ticklish side.

" _Wait_ , are we still going to that costume party?" Alex grabbed Jamie's finger, stopping the torment.

"Nah, costume parties are for kids, so we're going to make our own little party at that pub down the street." Nick pushed Jamie's legs aside and lay back on the end of the bed.

"A band is playing and I'm sure we can pull some sweet birds there without having to spend our hard-earned money on wank costumes. You up for it?" Matt sat up and looked down at Alex.

"Sounds good...sounds _real_ good..."

Alex looked fondly at his three friends and smiled, cataloging the dream in the back of his head as his favourite worst nightmare.

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile, opening it and searching Golden Slumbers.

It was worth a try.

Stranger things had happened...


End file.
